Apple's event today, which brought us both a new MacBook and release information for the Apple Watch, may be the bookend that marks the conclusion of our heady week of MWC action, but just because we're settling back to post-expo life doesn't mean we're quite done sharing everything from the conference with you. Over the weekend we published a few more videos of things we got to take a look at in Barcelona, and now we'd like to draw your attention to a couple of those, starting with the Runcible smart... thingy. At least, the Runcible isn't a smartphone nor a wearable, but its own breed of ...

Mobile World Congress 2015: an iterative flagship smartphone and a reimagined one. A handheld intelligent object and a new midranger from a very old brand. And enough wearable releases to completely cover your forearms in technology. But mainly ... we just talk about the Vive. That’s right: against all odds, a room full of former virtual reality skeptics is rendered screamy-excited by a demo of HTC’s new VR headset – and one longtime MWC veteran even goes on the record to say that the HTC Vive is the most exciting product he’s ever seen at the show. We’ll talk about that, plus ...

When you're not a major mobile operating system, getting attention from hardware manufacturers can be tricky. To a degree, that's true for Firefox OS, but it's still managed to find some love from big names: Sony's experimented with the platform, ZTE's delivered Firefox OS phones, and we just saw LG build that cool transparent model for Japan. Now we've got another OEM who may be thinking about joining the Firefox OS party, as HTC is tipped to be experimenting with the platform on its own lineup. We've talked about HTC and Firefox OS before, but only in the context of independent efforts ...

Firefox OS has been around for some time now, but it's lacked really stand-out hardware. A big part of that is how the platform is positioned, and with a focus on developing markets and budget-priced handsets, it's been hard for any phones to really shine. But then late last month we saw the launch of a Firefox phone that couldn't help itself but to be eye-catching: the LG-made Fx0 for Japan. Now, Japan is a long way to go to check out a smartphone – even one with as snazzy a design as the Fx0. But luckily for us, this guy launched just weeks ahead of CES 2105, and as we hit the show ...

It's been a long time coming, but smartphones that share the same hardware across disparate operating systems are finally starting to go mainstream. Sure, models like the HTC HD2 have managed to run nearly every OS under the sun thanks to a dedicated dev community, but we're talking commercial support here: like how HTC introduced that Windows Phone version of its One M8. Now Alcatel Onetouch is the latest to join that crew with a new tri-platform lineup of phones, as well as the arrival of a new, affordable smartwatch. The Pixi 3 can run your choice of Android, Firefox OS, or Windows ...

Upstart smartphone platforms have their work cut out for them. The market has become increasingly a three-man race, with Android, iOS, and Windows Phone succeeding while past players like BlackBerry fade into the background. Getting a foot in the door there is a huge obstacle, and platforms like Sailfish, Ubuntu, and Firefox OS continue to struggle to do so. Among them, Firefox OS has had the problem of being largely targeted at users who needed quite basic phones, and much of the hardware that's arrived to date has been a bit low-spec and forgettable. But today we find ourselves ...

What comes to mind when we talk about an extremely budget-priced smartphone? Something like the Nokia Lumia 530? Maybe the Motorola Moto E? Aggressively low prices can be key to adoption in markets where smartphones are still making inroads upon the populace, as we see in recently industrialized nations like India. There, you might pay the equivalent of $145 for that Lumia 530 or $120 for that Moto E – cheaper than many phones, sure, but can't we do a little better? Firefox phones are still trying to establish their niche in the market, and largely they've been coming in at the very ...

ZTE is one OEMs that's been eager to embrace new platforms, and last year we saw it get started with Firefox OS hardware. Back at MWC in February we learned of its next efforts, as the company announced the Firefox OS 1.3-running ZTE Open C . We didn't have much in the way of a firm release date at the time, and not being a particularly high-profile model to begin with, it managed to slip off our radar in recent months. But now the ZTE Open C is back in a big way, as the manufacturer kicks-off a retail blitz by starting early sales of the very affordable smartphone on eBay. General sales ...

Back in February during the Mobile World Congress, Mozilla was busy talking about what's next for its Firefox OS, an alternative to mainstream smartphone platforms we saw debut on its first hardware last year. The company talked about changes to how apps would launch, re-worked gesture inputs, and basically an overhaul to the platform's interface as we knew it. It's still a while before we'll see any new phones running this Firefox OS 2.0, but this week we catch a bit of an early preview, with the publication of a number of images depicting what to expect. Taking inspiration from the likes ...

Firefox OS didn't really make any big waves when it arrived last year, but despite an underwhelming start, the platform has some nice momentum to it, and with some crazy low-cost handsets on the way in 2014, its chances are looking up. Quite a few OEMs have shown interest in Firefox OS to one extent or the other, a list that includes Sony. While Sony hasn't released any stand-alone Firefox OS device, last winter we saw the company release an experimental ROM for its Xperia E – and that alone is a heck of a lot more than many manufacturers have done. This year it continues showing ...

ZTE showed up to CES 2014 with a nice selection of devices in tow, including the Grand S II and Iconic Phablet (which we later looked at as the Boost MAX). We knew a lot about what to expect back then, thanks to the company announcing much of its hardware the week before CES got started. With MWC getting underway next week, ZTE is back to its old habits, and today reveals just what sort of spread it intends to put out for us. The highlight sounds like it might be the Grand Memo II LTE, another six-inch phablet with an “ultra slim” design; you might recall that we got to check out the ...

Late last year we first started hearing about the Revolution from Geeksphone, a smartphone designed to run Android as well as Mozilla's Firefox OS platform. The idea of dual-platform tablets is just starting to become a reality, so seeing the same sort of capability out of a phone is something worth paying attention to. Last month, we picked up some new hardware details on the model, and today start hearing about just how it could launch. The good news is that the phone should be out quite soon, and at a pretty affordable price: Revolution is set to go up for sale next Thursday, February ...

Firefox OS has been in and out of the headlines over the past couple of years; at the 2013 MWC we went hands-on with the Firefox OS-powered ZTE Open, while there were definitely other phones powered by the browser-based operating system, like the Alcatel One Touch Fire. However, there was little to get excited about then, and the same can be said about the recent past. According to Cnet, Firefox is planning a presence at this year's upcoming MWC 2014. Not only that, but the report mentions an upcoming press release meant "to spread its message like wildfire, and to show off its latest ...

A bit over a month ago, we heard about a really interesting smartphone being worked on by the team at Geeksphone. You may recall the brand from its very early efforts into Firefox OS handsets, and this time it was returning to feature the upstart OS, but with a compelling twist: the phone would also be capable of running Android. We heard about a few specs back then, like a 4.7-inch qHD screen (quarter, not quad, mind you) and a 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Atom SoC. Now we're finally getting a look at the phone itself, learning some additional hardware details, and hearing more about the ...

CES 2014 brought with it some news of what's next for Mozilla and Firefox OS, including the platform making its way to televisions (webOS-style) as well as tablets. The company shared just such a tablet design, and offered a few initial specs, but this week the full picture finally emerges, as we get our hands on the details behind the first Firefox OS tablet. Like some of that early Tizen hardware we've mentioned on occasion, this Firefox tablet is intended specifically for developer use; don't count on seeing this hardware available in stores. That said, it still may be able to give us ...

2013 was an interesting year – in theory. What I mean by that is 2013 saw a lot of activity in the theoretical mobile market. Theoretical because not many of the newcomers who stood up to be recognized actually had any kind of hardware that people could, you know, hold and use. But now that 2014 has rolled around, many of these emerging mobile platforms have actually started coming up with some promising looking stuff and we thought, with the dawn of the new year, we’d give them a look and see what we might expect. Many of the new kids on the block can be categorized into one of two ...

Nearly 11 months ago we got a look at the first two commercial Firefox OS smartphones, the Keon and Peak from Geeksphone. Since then, we've seen other manufacturers emerge to develop phones for the platform, and Geeksphone itself has run into a little trouble, ending up forced to cancel the Peak's follow-up, the Peak+. Still, it's continuing on with support for the platform, and last month word emerged of a device called the Revolution, which would be capable of running both Android and Firefox OS. Today, some early hardware details of this model start coming to light. Apparently we're ...

We're less than two short weeks away from the end of 2013 and it's hard to deny that this year has been a pretty great one for smartphones. Sure, some players struggled more than others, but the industry's in a stronger, more mature, and just more interesting place than it was a year ago. For all the progress that's come our way, though, I wonder if we're not missing out on even bigger and better things. Because as much as the landscape has grown, we're still dealing with a small group of players, and an even more select group of the really big boys, the devices from which simply dominate ...

Mozilla's Firefox OS is out there on the scene, but it's yet to really make its impression felt. There are plenty of reasons we can come up with for why it's not bigger than it is, but let's face it: it's going to be an uphill battle for any of these platform upstarts to play with the big boys. At least one of the factors that may be keeping some users away from Firefox OS has been the hardware, none of it coming from from really big names. Sure, there's ZTE, but that's hardly a household name in the West. Earlier this year, we heard an LG exec discussing his company's interest in ...

Mozilla's Firefox OS often finds itself mentioned in the same sentence as platforms like Sailfish and Ubuntu Touch, but unlike those systems, where we're still waiting to see how the smartphone-buying public will respond, Firefox OS is already out there. This year saw the start of sales for devices like the ZTE Open, and while modest, ZTE is apparently happy enough that it plans to move forward, sharing news of a more powerful Firefox OS smartphone due next year. While none of the first generation of Firefox phones really screamed "high-end," the ZTE Open was one of the worse equipped ...

Geeksphone may have gotten the ball rolling for Firefox OS with its developer preview hardware, but when it comes to proper commercial retail hardware, ZTE will be the first to introduce many users to the platform, in the form of its ZTE Open. While curious to see how the OS will fare, we've been a little down on the Open itself (like many of these other early FFOS phones) due to its seriously low-end hardware. Now, that's not necessarily saying that the phone won't be up to the task, but ZTE would sure need to give the handset a price tag to match its stature. Thankfully, it look like ...

Ready to add a little diversity to your smartphone choices? We're starting to see a new breed of platforms get ready for commercial launches this year, and Mozilla's Firefox OS sure sounds like one of the more ambitious. It's already attracted interest from a number of OEMs, and quite a few handsets have been formally announced. Today, one of those early ones sees the publication of its FCC paperwork as it gets ready to go up for sale. ZTE announced its Open back at the Mobile World Congress, and while – like so many of these first-round Firefox OS phones – it's a bit underpowered ...

Watch today's Pocketnow Daily as we talk about the Mozilla Firefox OS and its probable arrival into the tablet market next week. Then it's all about the iPhone 5S as it seems that the display on this device will have more pixels than the current one. The Samsung Galaxy Note III follows as it could adopt some optical image stabilization as part of the camera technology included. LG is next as the company has released the white variant of the Nexus 4 ahead of the rumored launch. We end today's show talking about the rumors that Google's future Nexus smartphone may not be made by LG. All this ...

Earlier this year, we learned the details on the first wave of smartphones running Mozilla's Firefox OS. The big push should get started this summer, when we'll first be seeing handsets running the new platform go up for sale in Europe. So far, a number of companies have shown interest from less renowned OEMs like Alcatel or ZTE to even manufacturers like Sony, providing an experimental ROM for re-purposing one of its Android models. What we haven't heard much about has been Firefox on tablets, nor of Firefox OS hardware from Mozilla itself. All that could be about to change on June 3. ...

There's a point which we're coming up on, if we haven't reached it already, where it makes more sense to think of the HTC HD2 in terms of what mobile platforms it DOESN'T run than those that it does. In just the past year we've seen it get Jelly Bean, Windows Phone 8, and even full-on Windows RT. With no signs of development slowing down for the three-and-a-half-year-old smartphone, the latest OS to join the ranks of HD2 compatibility is Mozilla's new Firefox OS. This early port is a bit of a kludge, and a number of important things are broken: SIM card recognition, sound output, mass ...